Masterpiece: Moulin Rouge: La Goulue (the Glutton), 1891
by Henri de Toulouse Lautrec
Pronounced: Ahn-ree day Too-Loos Lo-trek
Keywords: Print, Movement, Lines
Grade:
3rd Grade
Month:
December/January
Activity:
AZ Tourism Poster
TIME:
1.25 hours
Meet the Artist:
 He was born to a French aristocratic
family in 1864.
 At 13, he fractured his right thigh
bone and at age 14, the left thigh
bone. Due to a medical condition the
bones did not heal correctly so his legs
stopped growing. His torso, head and
arms continued to grow to normal,
adult size but his legs remained child-sized. Causing him to grow to only 4’11”.
 Since he was physically unable to do many activities, he became deeply
involved in the art world of Paris and became an important PostImpressionist painter, illustrator and lithographer. Other PostImpressionist painters included Cezanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin.
 His work was exciting and elegant and captured many details of the
carefree, decadent, and gaudy lifestyle of Parisians during the turn of the
century –fin de siècle- with brilliant color and movement.
 He is most known for his printmaking. When the famous Moulin Rouge
cabaret opened its doors, Toulouse-Lautrec was commissioned to produce a
series of posters of their dancers, singers and entertainers.
 Throughout his 20-year art career, he created a large collection of
paintings, drawings, lithographs and posters. At a 2005 auction in the U.S.,
one of his early paintings, “La Blanchisseuse” (The Laundress), sold for a
record $22.4 million. Show students photo at end of lesson.
 Unfortunately, he died at a young age of 37, in 1901 of alcoholism.
What is Printmaking?
Note to the Volunteers: Use as much of the information below as you see
necessary.
Printmaking is the process of producing multiple artworks of the same piece
from one original surface. In order to do this, the artist selects a surface to
create a “master plate” from which multiple images are to be made. This
surface could be wood, linoleum, styrofoam, metal, cardboard, stone or any one
of a number of materials. Then the artist prepares the printing plate by
cutting, etching or drawing an image onto the plate. Ink is applied (in a variety
of ways) and paper is pressed onto the plate either by hand or by way of a
hand-run printing press. The finished print is pulled from the plate.
There are four main types of modern day printmaking:
1- Relief Printing. This is printing from a raised surface. A simple example of
relief printing is a rubber stamp pressed into a stamp pad and pressed onto a
piece of paper. Relief printing plates are made from flat sheets of material
such as wood, linoleum, metal, styrofoam etc. After drawing a picture on the
surface, the artist uses tools to cut away the areas that will not print. A
roller - called a brayer - is used to spread ink on the plate. A sheet of paper
is placed on top of the plate and the image is transferred by rubbing with
the hand or a block of wood, or by being run through a printing press. The
completed print is a mirror image of the original plate.
2- Intaglio. This describes prints that are made by cutting the picture into
the surface of the printing plate. Using a sharp V-shaped tool - called a burin
- the printmaker gouges the lines of an image into the surface of a smooth
polished sheet of metal or in some cases a piece of plexiglass. To make a
print, ink is pushed into the lines of the design. The surface is then wiped
clean so that the only areas with ink are the lines. A sheet of paper which
has been soaked in water is then placed on the plate which is run through a
printing press. The paper is literally forced into the small lines that have
been cut into the plate. A variation of this technique is known as etching.
With etching, acids are used to eat into the metal plate.
3- Planography or Lithography. As we have just learned, relief prints are
created from a raised surface, and intaglio prints are created from a cut
surface. Planography however, is the printing of a flat surface. Lithography
is the art of printing from a flat stone (limestone) or metal plate by a
method based on the simple fact that grease attracts grease as it repels
water. A design or image is drawn on the surface with a greasy material -
grease crayon, pencil or ink - and then water and printing ink are applied. The
greasy parts absorb the ink and the wet parts do not. Acids are often used
with this type of printmaking to etch the stone and prevent grease from
traveling where it should not. For example, if a finger is placed on the
surface, enough grease is transferred and as such, the fingerprint will
attract the ink. Unfortunately, lithography is a printing process which
requires the use of proper facilities and materials. Lithography was
invented in 1798. Its main advantage is the great number of prints that can
bepulled.
4- Stencil: Serigraphy. A stencil is a sheet of paper, fabric, plastic, metal or
other material with designs cut, perforated or punched from it. Ink is
forced through the openings onto the surface (paper, fabric etc.) to be
printed. Sometimes called silk screening, serigraphy (seri means silk) is a
type of stencil printing. A stencil is fastened to a sheet of silk which is
tightly stretched across a wooden frame. Or, an area of the silk is "blocked
out" using glue, gum arabic or shellac. The frame is placed against the
material to be printed. A squeegee (rubber mounted in wooden handle) is
used to push the ink through the open areas onto the material or paper
below.
Show the students the following Youtube on a modern version of the CanCan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T59EDTqqW0A&feature=related
Possible Questions:
 Is there movement in this print?
 What person, shape, or thing do you see first? The print we are studying
today is of the dancer, Louise Weber, known as the outrageous La Goulue
(“The Glutton”), who created the French Can-Can at the Moulin Rouge.
 Who do you think that man is in the foreground?
 Does the poster motivate you enough to want to go to the Moulin Rouge and
see the dancer?
 Does it look like posters you would see today advertising movies, music,
vacation spots, or sporting events? What is different?
 What type of music or sounds would you associate with this print?
 How does it make you feel?
 What do you like best about it? Least?
Activity:
AZ Tourism Poster
Materials Needed: 9”x12” scratch-foam board, student’s own pencil, wooden
cuticle sticks, red, blue, yellow, black paints, brayers (art roller with a handle), PVC
“rolling pins”, 9”x12” white construction paper (enough for two print runs per
student), paper towels, paper plates, mats to cover desks.
Explain activity – they have been hired by the AZ Tourism Office to create a
poster that will promote visitors and tourists. To do this, students will be
designing a template on the scratch-foam and “running” two prints using one paint
color to be applied using the brayer (art roller with a handle).
Process:
1. Brainstorm with the students on the natural, historical, and unique
attractions of Arizona and how they would market this beautiful state
for tourism. For example: the Grand Canyon, the fauna and flora of the
Sonoran Desert, the Rim, the unique mountain ranges, the sunsets, clear
skies, Spring Training, Tucson, Tombstone, Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff,
etc. Write their ideas on the board. Also, have them think of a simple
catchy slogan or phrase to attract interest.
2. Give each student a mat to work on, a scratch-foam board, a brayer, a
PVC “rolling pin”, a wooden cuticle stick, a couple of paper towels, and
white construction paper. They will need their own pencil.
3. Using their pencil, have them draw their AZ tourism picture on the
scratch-foam board. Remind them to work big and explore the concepts
of Impressionism by using different line styles such as short strokes,
hatches, dots or points). Remember that Lautrec’s lines had a lot of
movement in them.
4. When they are satisfied with their general layout, they can use the blunt
end of the cuticle stick for wider lines. The lines need to be deep without
tearing the scratch-foam. And remember if they are writing words
everything will print "backwards" so words need to be written backwards
and the letters would need to be reversed as well. They may also add
words when the printmaking process is finished.
5. After the students are finished pressing their lines, have them choose a
paint color. Squeeze some paint onto the scratch-foam. Use enough paint
so it can cover the foam in an even layer. Have student spread the paint
smooth with the brayer or wide paint brush so there is an even layer
completely coating the foam. ***Remind them that what they don’t paint
will not transfer onto the paper and they must work quickly on this step
so the paint doesn’t dry.
6. Quickly lay the white construction paper on top of the inked foam print
block and smooth the paper out using the PVC “rolling pin”. Now carefully
pull the paper back from one end and lay it out to dry.
7. Repeat Step #6 for their second run.
8. If they didn’t add their slogan or words as described in #5, they may do
so at this point. Have the student sign their name in the bottom corner!
Photograph of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and other Works
Self Portrait
Lautrec Marcelle Lender, 1895
Jane Avril at the Moulin Rouge
La Blanchisseuse – The Laundress